History Main / OfficerAndAGentleman

* General Leo fits this, in ''VideoGame/FinalFantasyVI''.

** In the 1971 story "Truce or Consequences," Yankee Doodle Pigeon pleads to Dastardly as this in an effirt to keep a series of photos depicting him as a traitor (taken while under hypnosis) from landing in his superior's hands.

* ''ComicBook/DastardlyAndMuttley'': Dick describes himself and "an officer and a gentleman"

* ''WesternAnimation/LooneyyTunes'': Surprisingly, ''WesternAnimation/YosemiteSam'' of all people is able to pull this off during the short film ''Southern Fried Rabbit'' (1953) by Creator/FrizFreleng. Sam is depicted as a Confederate officer who didn't get the message that UsefulNotes/TheAmericanCivilWar ended decades ago. Though he relentlessly pursues Bugs Bunny, bent on keeping Yankees off of Confederate soil, when Bugs disguises himself as a woman, Sam is genteel and unfailingly polite to the "Scarlet Ma'am". This is also one of the few times where Sam isn't talking at his [[NoIndoorVoice usual volume level.]]

* ''Film/ThePatriot'': This archetype is embodied by General Cornwallis, which was very much the ideal that high-level British officers at the time were at least supposed to strive for. He treats the entire Colonial War as a sporting game with temporary enemies and is more than willing to hold a civil negotiation with Benjamin Martin. [[SubvertedTrope At least at first]]. His subordinate Colonel Tavington, whose brutal, unprofessional conduct in battle initially earns him furious rebukes from Cornwallis, is eventually given free rein to engage in war crimes after Cornwallis has been dealt a personal slight by Martin.

* Comically subverted in ''Theatre/HMSPinafore'', with extremely polite sailors being shocked when Captain Corcoran breaks his rule about never ([[CatchPhrase "well, hardly ever"]]) swearing.

** Major Edrington ("I am in fact the Earl of Edrington") in "The Frogs and Lobsters" (also known as "The Wrong War"). He's an accomplished and capable military leader in the British Army and looks damn fine in his red coat. In his first scene, he appears to be a haughty elitist who sneers at the Royal Navy and demands to be called "My Lord", but he turns out to be ok and behaves like a perfect gentleman (if a GentlemanSnarker).

* ''TabletopGame/CrimsonSkies'' has Nathan Zachary; captain of the pirate airship ''Pandora'' and known throughout the Americas as the Gentleman Pirate.
* TabletopGame/SeventhSea has too many to count.
* In ''TabletopGame/{{Battletech}}'', Marion Marik was this during the Reunification War. Despite the ruler of the Star League having officially rescinded the [[FictionalGenevaConventions Ares Accords]] prior to the war, Marion declared at the onset of her campaign against [[{{Matriarchy}} The Magistracy of Canopus]] that she and all forces under her command would obey the Accords as long as they were respected by the Magistracy. As a result, the Canopian Campaign was fought considerably cleaner than the Taurian Campaign and the Magistracy survived the war with almost no civilian casualties and considerably less ill will against the Star League.

* In ''Theatre/TheGentlemanRanker'' all of the officers are British Gentlemen, who can recognize that Private Smith has the right mannerisms. [[spoiler:Harford is German, but still an aristocrat]].

* The general portrayal of the heroic player character in any RPG, generally.
** Prominently so with the captain in the ''VideoGame/NeverwinterNights2'' mod ''Dark Waters'', who goes as far as cutting his own left hand off so that his nemesis won't do the same to one of his crew.
* In VideoGame/SabresOfInfinity, one of your fellow officers, Elson, is highly educated, well-spoken, and generally friendly towards you, provided you abide by the war's rules of engagement.
* ''VideoGame/TalesOfTheAbyss'' has General Aslan Frings of the Malkuth Imperial Forces. The first time you meet him, he [[ReasonableAuthorityFigure thanks you for disobeying orders in the name of trying to alert his troops of danger]], and he's later shown going out of his way to treat captured enemy troops with respect… even before he [[StarCrossedLovers falls in love]] with his DistaffCounterpart from Kimlasca, [[LadyOfWar General Jozette Cecille]].
* General Leo fits this, in ''VideoGame/FinalFantasyVI''.

* In ''VideoGame/LostHorizon'', a number of characters are current or former British army officers, but despite outward appearances, most of them don't make the cut. Fenton lacks the refinement, Huxley lacks the courtesy, and Lord Weston lacks [[spoiler:the integrity]]. Richard Weston might qualify, though.

* ''Webcomic/CassiopeiaQuinn'': Such behaviour is {{enforced}} by the Prime Galactic Navy through a strict CodeOfHonour, which (among other things) involves treating every enemy as a WorthyOpponent, and never allowing another to sully your reputation. 'Dishonorable' behaviour will get errant officers disciplined if they're lucky, and on the reciving end of a [[DuelToTheDeath duel]] if they're not. They even enforce the 'gentleman' bit too, as all officers seemingly receive titles on commission, and rise in the hierarchy as they rank-up[[note]]a Commander is a Knight, a Captain is a Baron, an Admiral is an Earl and a Lord Admiral is a Duke[[/note]].

* ''WebAnimation/HappyTreeFriends'' has Flippy, who isn't serving anymore, but still wears his uniform and dogtags. Throughout the series, he is unfailingly polite, more than eager to lend a hand, and has a knack for even enagaging in childish activties. He's such a sweetheart that it's easy to forget he has a SplitPersonality of an AxCrazy mass murderer [[ShellShockedVeteran when reminded of the war he served]].

* Surprisingly, ''WesternAnimation/YosemiteSam'' of all people is able to pull this off during the short film ''Southern Fried Rabbit'' (1953) by Creator/FrizFreleng. Sam is depicted as a Confederate officer who didn't get the message that UsefulNotes/TheAmericanCivilWar ended decades ago. Though he relentlessly pursues Bugs Bunny, bent on keeping Yankees off of Confederate soil, when Bugs disguises himself as a woman, Sam is genteel and unfailingly polite to the "Scarlet Ma'am". This is also one of the few times where Sam isn't talking at his [[NoIndoorVoice usual volume level.]]
* Near the end of ''WesternAnimation/DastardlyAndMuttleyInTheirFlyingMachines'' episode "Medal Muddle", Dick Dastardly was falling and had no medal to offer Muttley so, in order to convince the dog to save him, Dastardly invoked the trope and promised to help Muttley find his lost medals. Dastardly kept good on his promise.

* ''Manga/{{Berserk}}'': Roderick of Schtauffen, the [[RedBaron "Sailing Prince of Iith"]] is an aristocratic and educated naval captain who excels in warfare. He never fails to be fair, courteous, and polite, especially towards ladies.
* Sir Allen Schezar in the ''Anime/TheVisionOfEscaflowne'' has this kind of quality, being a well-spoken, clean-shaved gentleman commanding a RagtagBunchOfMisfits. He seems [[StayInTheKitchen rather chauvinistic at times]] to his love interests (Princess Millerna and Hitomi), though this is somewhat explained through his [[FreudianExcuse tragic backstory]] [[spoiler: because Allen is pretty screwed up after he [[FailureKnight failed to protect]] three women he very much cared for: his mother (dead), his younger sister Selena (kidnapped and tortured by Zaibach, to the point of her becoming someone else), and his first love Marlenne (married King Freyr, had Allen as her lover and the father of her kid Chid ''unbeknownst to Allen'', died too).]] To top it all, [[spoiler:he heavily blames his DisappearedDad for abandoning their family… not knowing that Leon Schezar had died many years ago.]] To his credit, he gets better [[spoiler: and is reunited with his sister]].
* In ''Manga/FullmetalAlchemist'', Major Armstrong lives this trope, especially compared to the behavior of most of the other officers in the Amestrian Army, who range from sexist pigs, shameless flirts, [[BadassArmy Badass Briggs soldiers]] and pencil-necked stiffs, with the occasional psychopath thrown into the mix.

* ''Franchise/GhostInTheShell'': Major Kusanagi can be an Officer ''or'' a Lady. She can be very kind and blends in perfectly with high society but doesn't hold back her badassitude in combat.
* In ''Anime/MobileSuitGundamWing'', OZ, the [[BadassArmy special forces unit]] that overthrows the world government to change the destiny of the human species, strives for its leaders to be this--at least, when they're not being slaughtered by the [[Anime/MobileSuitGundamWing Gundam pilots]]. Its unfailingly-cultured and chivalrous commander, Treize Khushrenada, is this in spades accordingly, even amid his scheming and plotting.

%% * Taki from ''Manga/MaidenRose''
* Albert James Moriarty of ''Manga/MoriartyThePatriot'' is one of the only genuinely well-meaning BlueBlood characters, and he works a Lieutenant Colonel in the army before his retirement to head [=MI6=], using his soldiers to help rescue his brother William in a [[TheChessmaster chessmastered ploy]] to create the secret service and use it to help Britain.

* Hans von Hammer, from the ''Comicbook/EnemyAce'' comics from Creator/DCComics, is the epitome of the trope.
** His most notable aspect, apart from working for the other side, is not shooting down already damaged aircraft. A straight-on duel, yes, plinking the defenseless, no.
*** Making it [[TruthInTelevision Truth in Comic Books]]. In the early days of military aviation, fighter pilots had complex rules of chivalry which included "never shoot a cripple."
* ComicBook/CaptainAmerica has his own special ranking within the US military and is considered one of the most gentlemanly of all the heroes in the Marvel Universe. It's not uncommon for even the bad guys to look up to him.

* While Creator/GarthEnnis World War Two comics often portray officers as sleazy ArmchairMilitary there are exceptions.
** The tank officers in''Tankies'' are selfless but refuse to risk their men unfairly. Their general understands this and so he and his aide take a walk near the range of enemy artillery while chatting about bird watching to inspire the others to make the (ultimately successful) charge.
** The squadron leader in ''Happy Valley'' is a reserved, ReasonableAuthorityFigure whose final scene has him stating that he can't send the Diary of a slain hero home to his family (as it includes classified maneuvers) but he can wait until the end of the war to present it once that is no longer classified rather than just destroy the diary.

[[folder:Fanfiction]]

* The protagonist Asher Walters becomes this in later chapters of [[http://www.fanfiction.net/s/7153098/1/The_Chronicles_of_Utopia The Chronicles of Utopia]]. Enlisted in Veluna's army, he is given officer training and becomes a battalion commander who looks after his men and followers a fairly strict code of conduct, though he is not afraid of using illusion and trickery to confuse and demoralize the enemy.

* ''Literature/TheGuardiansOfChildhood'': General Kozmotis Pitchiner is usually portrayed this way, which makes [[DemonicPossession what he later becomes]] all the more tragic.
* Britt Reid from ''Radio/TheGreenHornet'' fanfic ''Bad Medicine'' is a graduate of West Point Academy and a former Army Captain who served two tours in Afghanistan [[BattleButler (which is how he met Kato)]]. He puts the skills he's learned in the Army to good use as the Green Hornet but also retains a sense of honor. He even invokes the words 'as an officer and a gentleman' to get someone he's trying to protect to trust him.

* Skipper, leader of the penguins in ''Franchise/{{Madagascar}}'' (both in the movies and in [[WesternAnimation/ThePenguinsOfMadagascar the TV spin-off]]) has some of these qualities. He is a lot more cultured than the rest of the commando penguins, generally courteous towards ladies, and also [[RankScalesWithAsskicking pulls off the craziest stunts]]. Case in point: "No little girl will shed a tear on my watch!" from "What Goes Around."

* Commodore Norrington of ''Franchise/PiratesOfTheCaribbean'' fame started out this way but went disappointingly south once he fell from royal favor, [[spoiler: DeathEqualsRedemption notwithstanding.]]
** He did let his emotions get the best of him even in the [[Film/PiratesOfTheCaribbeanTheCurseOfTheBlackPearl first film]]. When Elizabeth asked him to go rescue Will from Barbossa, Norrington refused until she agreed to marry him. Then all his talk of duty and serving others went right out the window.
* Colonel Robert Gould Shaw from ''Film/{{Glory}}''. Also a RealLife example.
* ''Film/ForbiddenPlanet'': While his crew openly lusted after Altaira, Commander Adams was chastising her for her overt and provocative behavior. Granted, the only male she ever had contact with prior to the arrival of the [=C57D=] was her father, so her social skills in this area were decidedly undeveloped. And, of course, it was Commander Adams she ultimately fell in love with.

* ''Film/TheWaterHorseLegendOfTheDeep'' plays with this trope by initially presenting the captain as per the trope as an Oxbridge-educated gentleman leading "common" soldiers, but then revealing him as a mild example of TheNeidermeyer before allowing some redemption towards the end of the film.
* [[TheCaptain Captain Jack Aubrey]] in ''Film/MasterAndCommander'' represents this trope to a T. Jack is still gentlemanly in the novels, but is far more complex. He often philanders (away from Mrs. Aubrey!), dislikes and goes to great lengths to avoid duels. Even though he is of far lesser "rank," his friend Dr. Maturin is much closer to this idea.
* Chard, Bromhead, and Bourne in Film/{{Zulu}}.
* The UsefulNotes/{{Bollywood}} movie "Lakshya" (based on the Kargil War between India and Pakistan) has a sequence where Amitabh Bachchan orders his men to bury slain Pakistani soldiers in accordance to their religion. The soldiers protest, citing the defiling of Indian soldiers by the Pakistani army. His reply, translated roughly, is: "Even in war, we show some decency/dignity" ("हम युध मे भी एक शराफत रखते हैं।").
* Admiral Boom in ''Film/MaryPoppins'', if you sidestep the fact that [[CloudCuckooLander he shoots cannons from the top of his roof with absolute punctuality]].
* Captain Anson in ''Film/IceColdInAlex'' not only recovers from DrowningMySorrows as he flees [[UsefulNotes/WorldWarII Rommel's assault]] in a beaten-up ambulance but also saves the life of [[spoiler: a South African soldier who tagged along for the ride who's revealed to be a German spy]].
* Captain Nicholls in ''Literature/WarHorse'' is a typical example, even objecting to his superior's plan to attack an undefended German garrison with a surprise cavalry charge. Like a good officer, though, he follows orders. He doesn't have much of a StiffUpperLip, though, and the look of horror and desperation is evident on his face when he realizes that the Germans have set up machine guns in the treeline, which are mowing down the cavalry. [[HonorBeforeReason He keeps charging]], though.

* Commander Film/JamesBond, serving the Royal Navy before being recruited by [=MI6=] as a double-O agent. He's seen in uniform in ''Film/YouOnlyLiveTwice'', ''Film/TheSpyWhoLovedMe'', and ''Film/TomorrowNeverDies''.

* [[BigBad Major Chip Hazard]] from ''Film/SmallSoldiers'' is certainly no example ''and'' [[{{Hypocrite}} is hardly anyone to talk]], but he calls Brad out for striking one of the modified Barbie Dolls all the same:
--> '''Chip Hazard:''' You maggot! An officer and a gentlemen does not strike a lady!
* ''Film/ThePatriot'': This archetype is embodied by General Cornwallis, which was very much the ideal that high-level British officers at the time were at least supposed to strive for. He treats the entire Colonial War as a sporting game with temporary enemies and is more than willing to hold a civil negotiation with Benjamin Martin. [[SubvertedTrope At least at first]]. His subordinate Colonel Tavington, whose brutal, unprofessional conduct in battle initially earns him furious rebukes from Cornwallis, is eventually given free rein to engage in war crimes after Cornwallis has been dealt a personal slight by Martin.

* In ''Film/AppointmentWithVenus'', [[MajorlyAwesome Major Valentine Mooreland]] is never less than perfectly composed and unfailingly polite despite the odd nature of his mission--having to rescue a pregnant cow from a Nazi-occupied island-- and having to work with a squad that includes a female civilian and a drunken naval officer. Of course, given he is portrayed by Creator/DavidNiven, this should come as a surprise to no one.

* The movie ''Film/TheWaterHorse'' plays with this trope by initially presenting the captain as per the trope as an Oxbridge educated gentleman leading "common" soldiers, but then reveals him as a mild example of TheNeidermeyer before allowing some redemption towards the end of the film.

* Skipper, leader of the penguins in ''WesternAnimation/{{Madagascar}}'' (both in the movies and in [[WesternAnimation/ThePenguinsOfMadagascar the TV spin-off]]) has some of these qualities. He is a lot more cultured than the rest of the commando penguins, generally courteous towards ladies, and also [[RankScalesWithAsskicking pulls off the craziest stunts]]. Case in point: "No little girl will shed a tear on my watch!" from "What Goes Around."

For example, an officer and a gentleman will rarely if ever [[ClusterFBomb cuss]], and never knowingly in the presence of a lady. He will rarely drink to the point of inebriation, unless it is used for [[NotSoAboveItAll comedic purposes]] or to tragically show how the war [[DrowningMySorrows may be taking a toll on him]]. He would never, ever [[RapeIsASpecialKindOfEvil take advantage of a lady]], and will be very protective of women, both of their persons and their sensibilities, even when it is not merited. Further, if you insult his honour, or worse, the honour of a lady he fancies, you may earn yourself a [[ThrowingDownTheGauntlet challenge]] to a [[DuelToTheDeath duel]], unless profuse apology is the next thing out of your mouth. Otherwise, expect a [[LetsFightLikeGentlemen fair, gentlemanly duel]] in which he will proceed to carve you into cutlets. However, he would not think of [[CombatPragmatist fighting dirty]], and most certainly WouldNotShootACivilian on purpose. On the other hand, if he is evil, he might have some of his less honourable henchmen do the DirtyBusiness for him. Further, whether good or bad, he will always keep his word… after all, [[IGaveMyWord he gave his word as a gentleman]]. Characters typifying this trope often have the habit, for better or worse, of displaying HonourBeforeReason. Expect him to be AFatherToHisMen. Likely a CulturedBadass, especially when AuthorityEqualsAsskicking is in play.

* Skipper, leader of the penguins in ''WesternAnimation/{{Madagascar}}'' (both in the movies and in [[WesternAnimation/ThePenguinsOfMadagascar the TV spin-off]]) has some of these qualities. He is a lot more cultured than the rest of the commando penguins, generally courteous towards ladies, and also [[AuthorityEqualsAsskicking pulls off the craziest stunts]].
** Case in point: "No little girl will shed a tear on my watch!" from "What Goes Around."

* Skipper, leader of [[EverythingsBetterWithPenguins the penguins]] in ''WesternAnimation/{{Madagascar}}'' (both in the movies and in [[WesternAnimation/ThePenguinsOfMadagascar the TV spin-off]]) has some of these qualities. He is a lot more cultured than the rest of the commando penguins, generally courteous towards ladies, and also [[AuthorityEqualsAsskicking pulls off the craziest stunts]].

* Pip Bernadotte in ''Manga/{{Hellsing}}'' is a lot more cultured than most of the men in his squad. And he is the heroine's love interest.
** Also counts as a ChivalrousPervert.

* [[ActionGirl 2nd Lt.]] [[WideEyedIdealist Alice L. Malvin]] in ''Anime/PumpkinScissors'' has [[HonorBeforeReason very definite ideas]] on what it means to be the daughter of one of "the thirteen noble families." The example she sets shames other less principled members of the privileged class and impresses poor commoners outraged by the nobility's excesses.

!!Examples:

[[folder:Literature]]
* ''Literature/TheAliceNetwork'': Captain Cameron is an honorable, kind soldier who would never leave a lady in distress. His gentlemanly qualities only make him more attractive to Eve, who rarely encounters kindness in the course of her life and her short-lived spying career.
* ''Literature/{{Discworld}}'':
** Subverted in ''Literature/{{Jingo}}'' in the form of Willikins, Vimes' [[BattleButler butler-turned-sergeant]]. When addressing Vimes, Willikins is the picture of politeness - so far so good - but when talking to the men under his charge he turns into a [[DrillSergeantNasty bellowing, foul-mouthed authoritarian.]] Also played straight with Lord Rust, who is the negative, incompetent, "BlueBlood who is polite to equals and superiors only" variety, with [[HonorBeforeReason lots of "honor" and not a lot of reason]], utterly convinced that their enemy (who has spent the last several decades fighting a variety of enemies and getting ''really good at it'') will "turn and flee the minute they taste cold steel"; he is described in ''Literature/{{Night Watch|Discworld}}'' as following the "subtract the enemy's casualties from thine own, and if the number is positive, then it was a Glorious Victory" school of strategy.
** Sergeant Jackrum of ''Literature/MonstrousRegiment'' fame would tell you that, as a sergeant, Wilikins is neither an officer or a gentleman. Sergeants are crafty bastards, and he would know. Lieutenant Blouse from the same book ''would'' fit this trope if it were any other kind of story--he's an officer, a gentleman, and honorable to a fault -- but war is a very ugly thing that has no time for honor and chivalry.
* Faramir from ''Literature/TheLordOfTheRings'' fits this trope perfectly. An officer and gentleman, he is extremely honorable (to the point he wouldn't lie even to an orc) and impeccably courteous (even toward his war prisoners).
* One of the primary themes of ''Literature/StarshipTroopers''.
* In Creator/LoisMcMasterBujold's Literature/VorkosiganSaga, all Barrayaran officers are expected to be, and sometimes they even are:
** Aral and Miles play this trope to a tee. However, Aral's reputation as [[RedBaron "The Butcher of Komarr"]] does not.
** Cordelia--as a captain in the Betan Expeditionary Force -- is the female equivalent… as contrasted with Cordelia's prior tour in the Betan Astronomical Survey, where being captain was more like being TeamMom.
** A young example (and lampshade) is Lieutenant Miles Vorkosigan in ''Cetaganda'' who early in the book reminds himself that he is "an officer and a nobleman."
** Miles' relative Ivan also shows quite a few traits of this. Ivan--a soldier in the Barrayaran Imperial Service--employs some irony when asked, "Are you a hired killer?" He replies, "Well, [[LiteralMinded in a ''sense'']]." Further, although he has the manners and breeding for this trope, he ends up being the beleaguered enlisted man to Miles most of the time.
** Being a blend of Samurai and Prussian Junkers, the Vor of Barrayar are expected to act this way whether or not they are technically officers, being a class (excuse me, [[InsistentTerminology 'warrior caste']]) of Officers and Gentlemen.
* Ista from Bujold's ''Literature/PaladinOfSouls'' is attracted to a man who fits the trope before ending up with that guy's younger brother who behaves much more casual and considers himself [[TheMinnesotaFats second best at everything]]. Of course, the older one was taken [[spoiler:and undead]].
* The ChasteHero Captain Avery in the book ''Literature/ThePyrates'' which is a DeconstructorFleet of pirate movie cliches fits this description perfectly.
* Very prevalent on both the American and Japanese sides in ''Literature/TheGreatPacificWar''. Prisoners are treated fairly, ships go out of their way to rescue enemy survivors, etc. Especially notable for the Japanese as it was uncommon to portray them as noble warriors rather than brutish savages.

* Despite being a [[YourTerroristsAreOurFreedomFighters rabble-rousing populist]], General Nortier of ''Literature/TheCountOfMonteCristo'' provides a good example of a gentleman soldier behaving honorably to those of the same class, even if on opposing sides. In the backstory which led to Dantes' imprisonment, Franz d'Epinay's father, a Royalist, was caught [[DressingAsTheEnemy infiltrating]] the group of pro-Napoleon soldiers Nortier belonged to and seeing that d'Epinay was a fellow gentleman, Nortier allowed him to duel to the death instead of simply killing him outright.
* Several examples in ''Literature/WarAndPeace''. Two prominent ones are the French captain [[PunchClockVillain Ramballe]] and Field Marshal Kutuzov. War isn't very personal; most prisoners throughout the book are treated relatively well, even equally.
* Capt. Laurence, of ''Literature/{{Temeraire}}''. He was originally a British Navy captain--where such is apparently expected--before harnessing Temeraire and is still more polished and formal than most of his crew and fellow officers, the Aerial Corps almost necessarily being much less formal. His own crew, out of admiration for him, started taking after his example. He, in turn, began to shed the stiffness in his manners as he embraced his new life.
* Peter D'Alembord from ''Literature/{{Sharpe}}'', a charming, elegant, and well-educated gentleman (who only joined the army because he killed a man in a duel). The title character is often pointed out to not be a gentleman, though an officer, although his conduct towards women is usually better than most of his well-born peers.
** Captain Fredrickson is a bit rougher around the edges than D'Alembord, but is a highly capable leader of skirmishers who also speaks fluent Spanish, French and German, and spends his free time admiring church architecture, sketching landscapes in pencil, and discussing the merits and flaws of republican governments with American expatriates and French prisoners of war.
* Commander Mitth'raw'nuruodo, of the Franchise/StarWarsExpandedUniverse novel ''Literature/OutboundFlight'', qualifies as one, if one given to somewhat underhanded tactics and his own set of morals. However, [[Literature/TheThrawnTrilogy later-set books]] have him as an [[AffablyEvil Affably Imperial]] CulturedWarrior.
* The hares of the Long Patrol army in the ''Literature/{{Redwall}}'' series behave like this (even some of the ones who aren't actually in the Long Patrol). The Long Patrol itself didn't appear by name in the first few books, but grew in importance eventually taking centre stage in (naturally) ''The Long Patrol''.
* Creator/JaneAusten's ''Literature/{{Persuasion}}'' plays this straight with Captain Wentworth.
** More famously subverted by Wickham in ''Literature/PrideAndPrejudice''.
*** Played dead straight with Colonel Fitzwilliam and Colonel Forster.
** Also played straight with Colonel Brandon from ''Literature/SenseAndSensibility''.
* Literature/{{Sten}} mocks this trope with the [[GeneralFailure incompetent Admiral van Doorman]], who prides himself on spit-and-polish while sneering at Army-trained Sten. Yet Sten himself embodies this trope to a certain degree. His [[CombatPragmatist Combat Pragmatism]] is never really seen with regard to women, to the point that it's an InformedAttribute. Doubtless it's to preserve the sympathy of readers who have yet to reach the egalitarian attitudes of the future.
* The armies of Victorian Europe in the {{Literature/Flashman}} novels are full of officers who are jovial, charming, considerate of their men, and thoroughly chivalrous. Naturally, our FakeUltimateHero protagonist despises every last one of them.
* The same author wrote semi-autobiographical short stories about his time as a subaltern in the Gordon highlanders, shortly after [=WW2=]. The ''Literature/McAuslan'' series depicts Lieutenant Dand McNeill as a typical young gentleman Scottish officer: walking the thin line between managing a platoon of largely Glaswegian soldiers effectively, and doing so to the satisfaction of the Colonel, a much older gentleman officer one step away from retirement. McNeill is hailed by his men as a "fly man" - a cunning bastard who leads with style and essential decency.
* Commissar Literature/CiaphasCain ([[FakeUltimateHero HERO OF THE IMPERIUM!]]) does his best to be seen as one.
* In Creator/GeneStrattonPorter's ''Literature/MichaelOHalloran'' (published 1915), cited to counter the argument of a RoyalBrat that gentlemen don't work.
-->''If the world has any gentlemen it surely should be those born for generations of royal and titled blood and reared from their cradles in every tradition of their rank. Europe is full of them, and many are superb men. I know a few. Now, will you tell me where they are to-day? They are down in trenches six feet under ground, shivering in mud and water, half dead for sleep, food, and rest, trying to save the land of their birth, the homes they own, to protect the women and children they love. They are marching miles, being shot down in cavalry rushes, and blown up in boats they are manning, in their fight to save their countries.''
* Creator/RudyardKipling's Gentlemen Rankers describes those who failed to be this trope.
** Kipling also poked fun at this trope, noting how ''useless'' most of that book-learnin', college degrees, and gentlemanly chivalry actually are on the battlefield.
-->''A scrimmage in a Border Station-''
-->''A canter down some dark defile''
-->''Two thousand pounds of education''
-->''Drops to a ten-rupee'' jezail[[note]]a home-made (and very accurate) Afghan rifle[[/note]].
-->''The Crammer's boast, the Squadron's pride,''
-->''Shot like a rabbit in a ride!''
-->''No proposition Euclid wrote''
-->''No formulae the text-books know,''
-->''Will turn the bullet from your coat,''
-->''Or ward the tulwar's downward blow.''
-->''Strike hard who cares - shoot straight who can''
-->''The odds are on the cheaper man.''
--->--"Arithmetic on the Frontier" (1886)
* ''Literature/HonorHarrington'' has its fair share.
** On the Manticoran side, the most prominent are probably Hamish Alexander and Michael Oversteegen.
*** Oversteegen is particularly notable in that he has every known trait of a Manticoran UpperClassTwit, belongs to the previously self-serving Conservative party, and seemingly got his first major command because his idiotic, cowardly, self-serving cousin was the Prime Minister. Yet he kicks a truly monumental amount of villainous backside while being a good, honorable, dedicated, responsible, brave, hardworking, and generally brilliant officer who believes in aristocratic ''responsibility'' as much as he does aristocratic ''privilege'' and has no patience for his incompetent relatives.
*** Hamish Alexander is a completely straight example: Earl of White Haven, brilliant tactician, fleet commander, etc.
** The Havenite side has its share:
*** Javier Giscard, Admiral and [[spoiler:romantic partner of future President Eloise Pritchart]].
*** Warner Caslet, who sadly [[spoiler:defects to the Manties after his sojourn with Honor on Hades]].
*** Thomas Theisman, the man who [[spoiler:shot Oscar Saint-Just]] and arguably the most gentlemanly gentleman in the whole Republic, with a depth of patriotism and loyalty that is quite simply staggering.
** Grayson Officer Commissions specifically say that the bearer is an OfficerAndAGentleman. This causes a minor plot point in one short story when someone points out that they never actually changed the wording when they first recruited female officers so technically speaking the female officers are also considered gentlemen rather than ladies (the semi-feudal nature of Grayson law means that the term Gentleman does have some limited legal standing).
* Captain (later Admiral) John Geary, protagonist of ''Literature/TheLostFleet'' is a lone positive example amid a veritable sea of negative ones.
* [[Main/SubvertedTrope Subverted]] with Kydd during ''Quarterdeck'' and ''Tenacious'', as well as other "tarpaulin" officers who "came up aft through the hawsehole". While certainly very good at their jobs through experience, they're considered crude by the standards of those who play this trope straight, which is why Kydd begins to resent his fellow officers in ''Quarterdeck''.
-->'''Kydd:''' [[Main/TearJerker I'd rather be cream o' the shit than shit o' the cream, dammit.]]
** Played straight with Renzi during those two books, highlighting his status as a {{Main/Foil}} to Kydd.
* Frequent theme of the works of German author/philosopher Ernst Jünger. In most of his works of fiction, the title character is an officer and gentleman from a royal background. (Especially Heliopolis and the marble cliffs.) The villains of his works are frequently villainous because they violate the nobleman's obligue.
** Jünger frequently criticized that this attitude dies out because of modernism and the enlightenment, paving ways for war crimes and genocides.
* ''Literature/TheUnknownSoldier'' has the archetypal Captain Kariluoto, who starts as a WhitePrince EnsignNewbie, and Lieutenant Koskela, who started as WorkingClassHero and owes his gentlemanly nature not to BlueBlood, but to being a FarmBoy.
* Richard Hannay, the hero of John Buchan's thriller novels, joins the army and serves as an officer in ''Literature/{{Greenmantle}}'' and ''Literature/MrStandfast'', retiring with distinction at war's end.
[[/folder]]

[[folder:Real Life]]
* TruthInTelevision: modern-day officer corps are the direct descendants of knights. When warfare became a science instead of an art in the 15th century, most generals noticed that knights - professional soldiers who had trained for fighting, warfare, strategy, and tactics - were far more valuable as officers and commanders of units composed of commoners, rather than privates in elite units.
** The tradition amongst European noble families is that the eldest son will inherit the estate and the younger sons will select a career, either in military, clergy, academia, or as civil servants. The name ''cadet'' for an officer trainee means "younger" in French - ''cadets'' were the younger sons of nobility.
** The best example of this would be the Prussian 'junker' class of middling nobility, who utterly dominated the officer corps of the German army from the 18th century to the end of World War Two.
** Sons (and, in today's world, daughters) of noble families are even today grossly over-represented in the military academies everywhere in the Western world. Except the United States, for obvious reasons, where they instead tend to be the sons and daughters of the wealthy and well-connected (after all, it's easier to get an appointment to West Point when your dad knows the Congressman making the appointment).
* Real-life subversion in conduct Robert Graves, the author of ''Literature/IClaudius'', describes doing during UsefulNotes/WorldWarI. He describes an occasion when a German officer was sighted as being within sniping range, and declaring that [[HonorBeforeReason it would be dishonorable to kill a fellow officer this way]], Graves handed his gun to a lower class soldier and [[TechnicalPacifist ordered him to make the kill]].
* After the death of legendary German UsefulNotes/WW1 Ace [[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Oswald_Boelcke Oswald Boelcke]] (known for writing the first manual of air combat, still relevant today), the English sent a plane to drop a wreath mourning the loss.
** Just because there's a war on, it doesn't mean you have to be insensitive, dontcherknow.
** World War I had several of these moments, mainly because the war was mostly political and the soldiers were just fighting because they were obliged to.
*** Henry Tandey, a British soldier, almost shot a wounded and fleeing German infantryman, but decided not to and just waved him on mercifully. Guess [[UsefulNotes/AdolfHitler who the soldier was]]? NiceJobBreakingItHero indeed.
** It happened again with Boelcke's student, [[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Manfred_von_Richthofen Mandred von Richthofen]], aka the Red Baron. After he was shot down in combat, the Allies organised a full military funeral, and many soldiers placed wreaths on his grave inscribed with such phrases as "To [[WorthyOpponent Our Gallant and Worthy Foe]]".
* TruthInTelevision, again: Joshua Lawrence Chamberlain, a Union general at the American Civil War battle of Petersburg, received applause and a brief unofficial cease-fire from both sides for bravery. He later returned the favor at Appomattox when he ordered his troops to salute the surrendering Confederate troops [[WorthyOpponent as equals]]. The Confederate general who received the salute later called Chamberlain "one of the [[KnightInShiningArmour knightliest soldiers]] of the Federal Army."
** Which is probably about the only way Chamberlain could have possibly topped his previous feats of [[RousingSpeech talking]] 80 disgruntled deserters into [[MisfitMobilizationMoment joining his regiment]] and then using them to [[HoldTheLine save the entire Union Army]] (with a [[CrazyEnoughToWork bayonet charge]]!) less than 24 hours later at the battle of Gettysburg, earning himself a well-deserved Medal of Honor.
*** And the kicker is that, in peacetime, he was a professor of ''rhetoric''- basically a guy whose ''day job'' was studying and explaining [[RousingSpeech Rousing Speeches]].
*** He was also wounded 6 times, but still made it home to become the governor of Maine.
* In the War Of 1812 the British navy was demoralized after losing several engagements against the newer and heavier American frigates. Captain Broke of HMS ''Shannon'' sent his accompanying frigates away, and then sent the following challenge to the USS ''Chesapeake'', safely docked in Boston Harbor, captained by James Lawrence.
--> "As the ''Chesapeake'' appears now ready for sea, I request you will do me the favour to meet the ''Shannon'' with her, ship to ship, to try the fortune of our respective flags. The ''Shannon'' mounts twenty-four guns upon her broadside and one light boat-gun; 18 pounders upon her main deck, and 32-pounder carronades upon her quarter-deck and forecastle; and is manned with a complement of 300 men and boys, beside thirty seamen, boys, and passengers, who were taken out of recaptured vessels lately. I entreat you, sir, not to imagine that I am urged by mere personal vanity to the wish of meeting the ''Chesapeake'', or that I depend only upon your personal ambition for your acceding to this invitation. We have both noble motives. You will feel it as a compliment if I say that the result of our meeting may be the most grateful service I can render to my country; and I doubt not that you, equally confident of success, will feel convinced that it is only by repeated triumphs in even combats that your little navy can now hope to console your country for the loss of that trade it can no longer protect. Favour me with a speedy reply. We are short of provisions and water, and cannot stay long here."
** The USS ''Chesapeake'' then left harbor and sailed for the ''Shannon'', neither ship firing until they were at point-blank range. After the battle, there were more than 200 killed and wounded, one of the bloodiest ship-to-ship battles of the age. Captain Broke was badly wounded and would never command another ship. The American Captain Lawrence was killed in action, and buried with full military honors by his enemies, with 6 Royal Navy officers as his pallbearers.
* Also General Robert E. Lee of the Confederacy, a cultured Southern gentleman who only commanded the Confederacy's army rather than the Union's because his home state of Virginia joined the Confederacy, and Lee believed in [[MyCountryRightOrWrong My State Right Or Wrong]] (at the time, most Southerners considered themselves citizens of their home states first and as Americans second[[note]]Northerners tended to have a stronger connection to "American" identity, and it was strongest in the Upper Midwest and newly-settled Great Plains[[/note]]).
** The fact that Lee clung to his OfficerAndAGentleman ideals in the face of crushing defeat, especially his abhorrence of [[CombatPragmatist guerilla warfare]] and [[WouldNotShootACivilian "collateral damage"]] had as much to do with reuniting the Union as anything Lincoln or Grant did.
* Nigerian military officer C. Odumegwu Ojukwu led his homeland of Biafra all throughout the Nigerian Civil War, which seceded from Nigeria due to ethnic tensions. He was a well-educated man who studied at Oxford University in England, and he spoke with a refined English accent.
* Peruvian Admiral Miguel Grau. After sinking the ''Esmeralda'' battle boat in 1879, he immediately wrote the Esmeralda captain's widow praising her dead husband's bravery and sent her the guy's personal effects.
** He also made sure to rescue and shelter the surviving crew of the very enemy ships he fought against and sank, in contrast with other admirals at the time who would take such opportunity [[KickThemWhileTheyAreDown to finish them off by shooting them.]]
** So well known he was as this, that his nickname, "El Caballero de los Mares" (The [[KnightInShiningArmor Knight of]] [[RedBaron the Seas]]) was coined by his adversaries, the Chileans.
* Yet another example: Korvettenkapitän (Lieutenant Commander) Karl von Muller, during UsefulNotes/WorldWarI as the commander of the commerce raider [[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/SMS_Emden_(1906) SMS Emden]]. He often risked his ship and crew in order to be polite and often released his prisoners aboard neutral or civilian ships. Still regarded as an example of a wonderful campaign and Knightly service.
** That tradition held into the second war with ''[[TheCaptain Kapitän zur See]]'' [[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hans_Langsdorff Hans Langsdorff]], commander of the German "pocket battleship" ''Admiral Graf Spee''. He strictly held himself to "prize rules", stopping and inspecting merchant ships and giving their crews a chance to evacuate before sinking them. Some crews were taken prisoner, but held in humane conditions; at least once, Langsdorff sent a distress call on behalf of his victim so sailors in boats would be picked up. Only when he was attacked by three British cruisers did the ''Graf Spee'' actually kill anybody. The ship was damaged, put into port in Montevideo, Uruguay. As a neutral country, they demanded ''Graf Spee'' either leave within 72 hours or be interned for the rest of the war. Believing himself trapped by superior forces, Langsdorff [[TheMenFirst wanted to avoid getting any more of his crew killed]] and [[KnowWhenToFoldEm scuttled his ship in the harbor]], then sent a telegram to Berlin [[ItsAllMyFault taking full responsibility]] and shot himself, symbolically GoingDownWithTheShip.
* George Washington was known for his gentlemanly conduct both on and off the battlefield.
** During one battle of the Revolutionary War, the dog of British Commander-in-Chief William Howe wandered into the colonial camp. Washington had the dog returned with a friendly letter, and Howe wrote a glowing assessment of Washington's character in his journal.
** During the winter at Valley Forge, when Washington took up residence in a local farmhouse, he actually paid rent (as opposed to simply occupying the house by force).
* Major John Andre, the British spymaster who assisted Benedict Arnold's treason and was caught and hanged by the Americans, comported himself with such dignity that even his jailers were saddened by the necessity of his sentence. His only complaint was that he would have preferred to face a firing squad (as a soldier, rather than be hanged as a spy). When the time came, he blindfolded himself and put the noose around his own neck.
* "Conduct unbecoming an officer" is still a listed court-martial offence in the British armed forces, the "and a gentleman" part having been removed in letter but enduring in spirit.
** It's still an offense in the US military as well (and the "gentlemen" bit remains), usually tacked on to any other offense(s) an officer commits.
* Subverted by the Auxiliary Division of the Royal Irish Constabulary during the Irish War of Independence. Composed of veteran UsefulNotes/WW1 officers, they had a notorious reputation for their lack of discipline, drunkenness, for carrying out murderous atrocities and for burning Cork city center to the ground. They later wore burnt cork in their hats as a symbol.
* [[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gregorio_del_Pilar Gregorio del Pilar]], one of the youngest generals in the Philippine Revolutionary forces, and one of the youngest commanders in the Philippine-American War. After a delaying action to cover Philippine leader Aguinaldo's retreat, the five-hour standoff resulted in Del Pilar's death due to a shot to the neck. Del Pilar's body was later despoiled and looted by the victorious American soldiers and his body lay unburied for days, exposed to the elements. An American officer, Lt. Dennis P. Quinlan, was disturbed by this treatment of what he deemed a WorthyOpponent and gave the body a traditional U.S. military burial. Upon del Pilar's tombstone, Quinlan inscribed, "An Officer and a Gentleman".
* UsefulNotes/ErwinRommel was the most chivalrous of the Wehrmacht's frontline Generals and Field Marshals: he committed ''no'' War Crimes at all, not even letting POW die of neglect or implementing the standard Retaliation Ratios (50:1 for wounded, 100:1 for dead) in response to partisan attacks! He is one of two Generals of Combat or Security units, of more than five hundred, known not to have done these things. He also embarrassed the Wehrmacht by refusing to execute Jewish [=POWs=], and even demanding that slaves be paid for their labour (when building the 'Atlantic Wall' of anti-amphibious-landing defenses in France using French slaves)!
** Rommel is also known to have expressed objections when the [=SiPo=] sent a survey party to North Africa to "assess the Jewish problem" in Jewish ghettoes in North African cities then under Axis control. Rommel pointedly said that with shipping space so limited and problematical, he would have preferred an equivalent number of fighting soldiers, or their weight in petrol or ammo, rather than a bunch of Useless Mouths (using the rhetoric applied to Germany's disabled, who were being euthanized in ''Aktion T-4'') to feed and house out of his scarce resources. No more SS personnel were dispatched to Africa. However, if he had succeeded in capturing Palestine then, police units would have been sent there to cleanse it. Rommel's reputation as "the Good German" would then have been shot.
** During the Fall of France, Rommel's division murdered numerous French colored soldiers after they'd been taken prisoners - a few time crushing them under their tanks' tracks. It was not on his orders ( and other divisions did the same ) but he knew of at least some of the murders and did nothing to prevent them.
* General Hans-Jürgen von Arnim was the closest thing the Wehrmacht had to another 'white sheep' among its Generals and Field Marshalls, and one who illustrated the difficulty of not participating or being implicated in War Crimes unless one refused command or was posted to North Africa. Commander of the 17th Panzer Division during Operation Barbarossa, he refused to implement the 'Commissar' Order and is not known to have taken any action against civilians beyond the usual 'foraging'. While the POW he captured and sent to the rear areas did suffer the same fate as the rest, as a mere junior commander he could make a reasonable claim not to have been able to do anything about that. On the 1st of October 1941, he was appointed to command of the XXXIX Panzer Corps, Army Group North, and charged with the maintenance of the Siege of Leningrad. More than 600k dead civilians later, in late November '42 he was transferred to command the 'Fourth Panzer Army' (little more than a Division) under Rommel's North African Front. Appointed to command the Front upon Rommel's recall in February 1943, he surrendered it in May '43.
** The von Arnim noble family has been mentioned for the first time in 1204, so Hans-Jürgen von Arnim could well be the TropeCodifier.
** Some Luftwaffe Generals were able to forego committing War Crimes, however, because of their lesser involvement in ground operations. Examples include [[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Adolf_Galland Adolf Galland]], [[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Walter_Krupinski Walter Krupinski]], [[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Josef_Priller Josef Priller]], [[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Johannes_Steinhoff Johannes Steinhoff]], and, last but not least, [[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Erich_Hartmann Erich Hartmann]].
* Creator/JimmyStewart, or rather, [[TheBrigadier Brigadier General James Stewart]], often described by his costars as one of the nicest men in Hollywood. And a man who survived the disastrous Schweinfurt raid and many more bomber missions in UsefulNotes/WorldWarII when he could have asked for, and easily received, a cushy job with the Air Force Motion Pictures Unit.
* Finland's very own Churchill, Field Marshal and later President Mannerheim. Being raised in an upper-class family, serving in the Russian court, and then as Supreme Commander in Finland's four wars did little to prevent him from being a true gentleman. He did, however, subvert it on occasions. His predecessor as president, Risto Ryti, gave a solemn personal pledge that he would continue their strictly-unofficial alliance with UsefulNotes/NaziGermany against the Soviet Union - including holding up their sector of the Siege of Leningrad (which did not extend to sending raiding parties out to disrupt the food imports across Lake Ladoga). On the 2nd of February 1943, the last survivors of the Stalingrad pocket surrendered. The following day Mannerheim met with the Cabinet, Mannerheim's memoirs claiming they unanimously agreed that Germany was utterly screwed and that they had to find a way to ditch them at the earliest opportunity. The moment came some eighteen months later when the Soviets threw the Germans back from Leningrad and drove them into the Baltic: Ryti resigned, Mannerheim took office, and the new government declared war on Germany. When the Nazis demanded that they explain their 'betrayal', Mannerheim (politely if snarkily) reminded the Germans that A) their countries had never had an official alliance and B) countries are not bound by personal pledges of their leaders (however solemn).
** Mannerheim also had a great distaste for Hitler, even refusing to shake hands with him without gloves. To most other German officers (those who weren't Nazis) he was most polite.
** Not that it prevented him from having several thousand POW executed after the Civil War.
*** Mostly because he had several BloodKnight subordinates, who desired more for revenge than justice. The Whites often [[ItsPersonal were absolutely insane]] in this respect.
** This trope is somewhat averted in the Finnish armed forces in general. All applicants to the Finnish Military Academy ''must'' already have attained the rank of ''vänrikki'' (2/Lt in Army) or ''aliluutnantti'' (Sub-Lieutenant in Navy) as conscripts and passed the ''Reserviupseerikoulu'' (Reserve Officer Academy) curriculum and acted as platoon leaders as conscripts. They have thus already been "pre-selected" and are more UpThroughTheRanks officers rather than OfficerAndAGentleman type. Note that sons of old nobility are ''still'' somewhat over-represented amongst Finnish officers as they are likely to take military career due to family traditions.
* Zig-Zagged with the Soviets. The Red Army amid the Russian Civil War did have a good number of ex-Tsarist officers who made up most of the Red officer corps. A good number of these officers played this trope straight, but many of them such as Semyon Budyonny came from poorer backgrounds and those with a penchant for vulgarity were more favored by the communist ideology to contrast with the White Army's noble officer corps. Once the USSR was established, this trope was generally averted as gentleman officers were portrayed as imperialist class enemies, and the idea was to instead establish that anyone could be an officer. This culminated in the great purge ridding much of the Soviet's old guard officer corps due to the paranoia that they were politically unreliable, even ones who were never Tsarists or nobles, and thus young inexperienced officers who were at least reliably communist took their place. This purge contributed to multiple Soviet setbacks in the early 1940s, but the growing professionalism of the Red Army in World War II brought upon pragmatic forces that embraced professional officers, relented purges, and saw those hastily promoted young officers mature and transform the Red Army onto the most devastating land force on the planet. By the UsefulNotes/ColdWar era, the Soviet Army's officers were "red" gentlemen and nobles that indulged in special privileges but sought to end the "decadent" west as well despite their own vulgarity.
** Generally, the Warsaw Pact's officers averted this trope due to their poorer backgrounds unless they were Soviet collaborators. They did come close to being part of the closest thing a socialist state had to nobility though and post 1989 central/eastern European armies looked at military officers with suspicion due to their communist ties.
*** NATO's Western European and North American officers similarly by the Cold War were no longer disproportional nobles, but this didn't stop the two sides of the iron curtain from portraying each other's officers as decadent oligarchs. The wealthy and well connected were still over-represented in both sides' officer schools, however, but average Joes commissioned from the ranks were steadily taking over due to the need for military build up.
* The Patron of the Brazilian army, UsefulNotes/DukeOfCaxias. As implacable was he was on the battlefield, he was known for treating all his foes as equals, offering them mercy and being open to diplomacy.
** A lesser known brazilian military figure of the same age, Lt. General Manuel Marques de Souza, nicknamed [[RedBaron The Gloved Centaur]] for both his exploits as a cavalry commander and his general demeanor as a cultured and compassionate nobleman, being a prominent patron of literature and science, as well as a vocal advocate for abolitionism.
* Field Marshall Sam(ji) Hormus(ji) Jamshed(ji) Fram(ji) Manekshaw of the Indian Army. Each of the "ji"s are honorifics appended to his actual name as a mark of respect from both military and civilian government officials who had the opportunity to work with him. And what did he accomplish militarily? Nothing less than [[UsefulNotes/TheIndoPakistanConflict liberating Bangladesh in sixteen days]]
* Preceding Manekshaw was the only other five star general in the Indian Army - the polyglot RenaissanceMan known as Kodadendra Madappa Cariappa.
[[/folder]]

* Peter D'Alembord from ''Literature/{{Sharpe}}'', a charming, elegant, and well-educated gentleman (who only joined the army because he killed a man in a duel). The title character is often pointed out to not be a gentleman, though an officer, although his conduct towards women is usually better than most of his well-born peers

** A lesser known brazilian military figure of the same age, Lt. General Manuel Marques de Souza, nicknamed [[RedBraon The Gloved Centaur]] for both his exploits as a cavalry commander and his general demeanor as a cultured and compassionate humanist, being a prominent patron of literature and science, as well as a vocal advocate for abolitionism.

** During the Fall of France, Rommel's division murdered numerous French colored soldiers after they'd been taken prisoners - a ffew time crushing them under their tanks' tracks. It was not on his orders ( and other divisions did the same ) but he knew of at least some of the murders and did nothing to prevent them.

* Field Marshall Sam(ji) Hormus(ji) Jamshed(ji) Fram(ji) Manekshaw of the Indian Army. Each of the "ji"s are honorifics appended to his actual name as a mark of respect from both military and civilian government officials who had the opportunity to work with him.

* The UsefulNotes/{{Bollywood}} movie "Lakshya" (based on the Kargil War between India and Pakistan) has a sequence where Amitabh Bachchan orders his men to bury slain Pakistani soldiers in accordance to their religion. The soldiers protest, citing the defiling of Indian soldiers by the Pakistani army. His reply, translated roughly, is: "Even in war, we show some decency/dignity" ("हम युध मे भी एक शराफत रखते हैं।")

* In ''TabletopGame/{{Battletech}}'', Marion Marik was this during the Reunification War. Despite the ruler of the Star League having officially rescinded the [[FictionalGenevaConventions Ares Accords]] prior to the war, Marion declared at the onset of her campaign against [[{{Matriarchy}} The Magistracy of Canopus]] that she and all forces under her command would obey the Accords as long as they were respected by the Magistracy. As a result, the Canopian Campaign was fought considerably cleaner than the [[ObligatoryWarCrimeScene Taurian Campaign]] and the Magistracy survived the war with almost no civilian casualties and considerably less ill will against the Star League.

* Taki from ''Manga/MaidenRose''

** The squadron leader in ''Happy Valley'' is a reserved, ReasonableAuthorityFigure whose final scene hashim stating that he can't send the Diary of a slain hero home to his family (as it includes classified maneuvers) but he can wait until the end of the war to present it once that is no longer classified rather than just destroy the diary.

The trope shares the same name with the 1982 film ''Film/AnOfficerAndAGentleman'' (starring Richard Gere and Deborah Winger), but the phrase "an officer and a gentleman" actually predates the film.

** That tradition held into the second war with ''[[TheCaptain Kapitän zur See]] [[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hans_Langsdorff Hans Langsdorff]], commander of the German "pocket battleship" ''Admiral Graf Spee''. He strictly held himself to "prize rules", stopping and inspecting merchant ships and giving their crews a chance to evacuate before sinking them. Some crews were taken prisoner, but held in humane conditions; at least once, Langsdorff sent a distress call on behalf of his victim so sailors in boats would be picked up. Only when he was attacked by three British cruisers did the ''Graf Spee'' actually kill anybody. The ship was damaged, put into port in Montevideo, Uruguay. As a neutral country, they demanded ''Graf Spee'' either leave within 72 hours or be interned for the rest of the war. Believing himself trapped by superior forces, Langsdorff [[TheManFirst arranged for the safe conduct of his men]], [[KnowWhenToFoldEm scuttled his ship in the harbor]], and then sent a telegram to Berlin [[ItsAllMyFault taking full responsibility]] and shot himself, symbolically GoingDownWithTheShip.